How to Find Good Food in Richmond, Virginia

To find good food in Richmond, walk one neighborhood at a time and write down what you taste. The city is compact enough that a few districts, a river and a good pair of shoes will take you a long way. Here is a plan that suits the city's size.

It works for a resident or a visitor, and it asks for nothing but curiosity.

How do you find good food in Richmond on foot?

Choose a district for each outing. Wikipedia names Carytown as a popular commercial area along Cary Street, the Fan as an area of Victorian architecture between the Boulevard, Main Street, Broad Street and the university, and Church Hill as an East End neighborhood home to St. John's Church. It also describes Old Town Manchester across the river and Shockoe Bottom below Church Hill.

Pick one, park once and walk. Give yourself two hours and no fixed plan. Read menus in the windows, ask a counter what they cook best and sit down when something smells right. Take a break on a bench between meals and write your first impressions while they are fresh. Our Shockoe Bottom guide covers the market district in more detail.

What should you know about Carytown and the Fan?

Carytown is a long shopping street, so a walk along it passes many kinds of kitchens in a short distance, and the Fan's residential streets sit close by. Because a student population lives in the area, expect a wide range of prices and styles. Ask what is made in house and what is bought in, and let a short, clear answer guide you.

Why does Jackson Ward matter to a food walk?

Wikipedia describes Jackson Ward as a historic Black business district once called the Wall Street of Black America and the Harlem of the South. A walk through it is a walk through Richmond's history, and eating there connects you to the people who built it. Read the historical markers, visit the local museum if you can and treat the neighborhood with respect.

Keep the visit unhurried and let the street set the pace. A neighborhood with this much history rewards a slow walk, and a question asked kindly of a shopkeeper or a cook often turns into a story.

How does the fall line shape the city?

Wikipedia says Richmond sits at the James River's fall line, the highest point on the river that boats could easily reach. That is why the city was a trading place from its beginning, and why markets and warehouses gathered near the water. The river is a good landmark: walk toward it when you are lost, and you will find history and often a place to sit. Use the river as a map for the day: start near the water, eat in the middle of the day on higher ground and come back down at dusk, when the light is good for a walk. Each stop gives you a different look at how the city grew.

Weather sets the pace. Summers are hot and humid, so plan summer walks for mornings and evenings and carry water.

How do you turn a walk into a tasting diary?

Choose a thread, such as a stew, a biscuit or a sandwich, and taste it in three neighborhoods. Our Brunswick stew guide and biscuit guide are good threads to start with. Write one line after each, and by the end of a weekend you have your own ranking.

In the Mosey app, a rating needs only a place and stars, and the rest is yours: name the dish, add a tag such as Brunch or Group Dining and attach a photo. The app counts different places you rate, with Sampler at five, Taster at 10, Expert at 20 and Connoisseur at 50. The levels mark how far you have eaten and nothing more. The ratings page explains rating by the dish.

How do you use lists and friends' picks?

A list is a note you can share. Make one for each outing, name it after the neighborhood and send it to a friend through an invite link. Follow friends whose taste you trust to see what they rated and saved, and use the Friends' picks layer on the map when you are deciding where to turn. Tag the people you eat with so each can rate the same plate.

Tags are labels that raters add, and diners filter by them. They show what the rater chose, so confirm details with the place. For an allergy, the peanut allergy guide lists the questions.

What if nothing is rated yet?

Local ratings for Richmond are only beginning, so your first few plates set the pace. Rate each one and add it to a list. Meanwhile, the daily food games give you three short puzzles a day.

What else covers Richmond, and what should you do next?

Start with the Richmond page, the Virginia page and the US food guides. Then choose one neighborhood, one dish and one question for your next meal.

Before you leave Richmond, open the Mosey app, rate your last plate by name and share a list with a friend.